WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?

We believe in the Bible

​The Bible is central to our understanding of the world in which we live, and to the faith which guides us to eternal truth. From the Bible we derive what we believe by looking at what the entire Bible says on a particular subject. Our doctrine is shaped from the collective witness of Scripture. This process is called Systematic Theology. (Systematic theologies have historically been summarised as Confessions.)​We also understand that the Bible is not merely a handbook for doctrine, but also a grand narrative of God’s redemption of His people, of which we form part in the present. It begins with God creating all things and declaring them very good. It tells us of the Fall of man into sin, bringing corruption to every part of God’s creation. It continues to lay out God’s redemptive plan, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension It culminates in Christ’s return to restore all things and bring about the new creation. This new creation began with his first appearing.​

We believe in tradition

​While tradition is in no way on par with Scripture, and must always be measured against Scripture, we do believe that as the church we don’t exist in an historical vacuum. Many faithful believers have gone before us and done the hard work of laying out certain essentials to the Christian faith. We stand in unison with them as we confess the very same essentials. As a confessional church, we hold to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, and strive to bring our teaching in line with the summary of doctrine laid out in this historic confession. This document is not an addition to Scripture, but rather a summary of what the entire Bible teaches on particular subjects. We consider it safe to conform to the pattern of teaching that we have received, rather than follow every wind of doctrine that surfaces in various ages. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith can be downloaded here.​

We believe in institution

​We believe that the church is one of the three main institutions given by God to the world (the other two being the civil government and the institution of family). He sovereignly governs the world through them. As part of this institution (the church), we conform to certain legal requirements, having a constitution by which we govern our local body of believers. This constitution lays out our particular beliefs and practices. It can be downloaded here.​